Soil bacteria known as methanotrophs are the sole biological sink for atmospheric methane (CH<sub>4</sub>), a powerful greenhouse gas that is responsible for ~ 20 % of the human-driven increase in radiative forcing since pre-industrial times. Soil methanotrophy is controlled by a plethora of different factors, including temperature, soil texture and moisture or nitrogen content, resulting in spatially and temporally heterogeneous rates of soil methanotrophy. As a consequence, the exact magnitude of the global soil sink, as well as its temporal and spatial variability remains poorly constrained. We developed a process-based model (Methanotrophy Model; MeMo v1.0) to simulate and quantify the uptake of atmospheric CH<sub>4</sub> by soils on the global scale. MeMo builds on previous models by Ridgwell et al. (1999) and Curry (2007) by introducing several advances, including: (1) a general analytical solution of the one-dimensional diffusion-reaction equation in porous media, (2) a refined representation of nitrogen inhibition on soil methanotrophy, and (3) updated factors governing the influence of soil moisture and temperature on CH<sub>4</sub> oxidation rates. We show that the improved representation of these key drivers of soil methanotrophy resulted in a better fit to observational data. A global simulation of soil methanotrophy for the period 1990–2009 using MeMo yielded an average annual sink of 34.3 ± 4.3 Tg CH<sub>4</sub> yr<sup>−1</sup>. Warm and semiarid regions (tropical deciduous forest, dense and open shrubland) had the highest CH<sub>4</sub> uptake rates of 630 and 580 mg CH<sub>4</sub> m<sup>−2</sup> y<sup>−1</sup>, respectively. In these regions, favorable annual soil moisture content (~ 20 % saturation) and low seasonal temperature variations (variations < ~ 6 ºC) provided optimal conditions for soil methanotrophy and soil-atmosphere gas exchange. In contrast to previous model analyses, but in agreement with recent observational data, MeMo predicted low fluxes in wet tropical regions because of refinements in describing the influence of excess soil moisture on methanotrophy. Tundra and boreal forest had the lowest simulated CH<sub>4</sub> uptake rates of 179 and 187 mg CH<sub>4</sub> m<sup>−2</sup> y<sup>−1</sup>, respectively, due to their marked seasonality driven by temperature. Soil uptake of atmospheric CH<sub>4</sub> was attenuated by up to 10 % in regions receiving high rates of nitrogen deposition. Globally, nitrogen deposition reduced soil uptake of atmospheric CH<sub>4</sub> by 0.34 Tg y<sup>−1</sup>, which is an order of magnitude lower than reported previously. In addition to improved characterisation of the contemporary soil sink for atmospheric CH<sub>4</sub>, MeMo provides an opportunity to quantify more accurately the relative importance of soil methanotrophy in the global CH<sub>4</sub> cycle in the past and its capacity to contribute to reduction of atmospheric CH<sub>4</sub> levels under future global change scenarios.